Donald Trump Enemy Gets Indicted

Donald Trump has interesting ways of valuing his holdings, including his own net worth.

So when Trump sued his Hong Kong real estate partners four years ago for not getting a good price on a major Manhattan development and evading taxes, it seemed like sour grapes, as the New York Times puts it.

Today, we find out Trump had good reason to quible with the $1.76 billion valuation: the Manhattan District Attorney is going after a former partner for grand larceny and tax evasion.

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the arrest and indictment of a Long Island man for evading taxes on compensation he earned in connection with the 2005 sale of the Riverside South Properties by Hudson Waterfront Associates, one of the largest real estate transactions in New York City history.

The defendant, BARRY D. GROSS, 45, has been indicted on charges of grand larceny, falsifying business records, offering a false instrument for filing, filing a false personal tax return, and failure to file unincorporated business taxes. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between February 2006 and September 2008.

Gross allegedly hid his $1 million payment from the deal, and after learning of the criminal investigation, attempted to conceal his fraud by filing amended tax returns. The indictment came after a two-year investigation into whether the Hong Kong partners evaded taxes on $17 million they may have received in addition to the sales price, notes the NYT.

The Times got reactions today: Trump said Thursday, "I greatly commend the district attorney for his work and feel certain it will continue."

Gross plead not guilty and his lawyer said he hoped to persuade Mr. Morgenthau's office to drop criminal charges, according to the NYT: "In my view, this should have been handled as a civil tax matter."